Isaac Mizrahi scrapped the runway this season. His demi-couture dresses aren't for the masses, he reasoned, and so don't need the wide exposure. "You know, it's just a little besides the point for my business right now," he explained in a private appointment.
Maybe not for everyone, but his exclusively eveningwear Spring collection will be fab for a few lucky someones. Mizrahi's aim seemed to be extreme glamour. That can occasionally turn camp in his hands, but this felt focused. He kept his slightly throwback silhouettes lean and clean, often drawing your attention to a single luxurious detail. That worked particularly well with a matte black faille: One fishtail column had a single huge flowerlike bow tied under the bust line, while the hem of another featured a burst of black tulle with confetti-like embroidery. And the intimate setting was the ideal way to appreciate a simple straight-cut flapper dress with an asymmetrical car-wash hem that rippled with icy gold bugle beads.
Mizrahi's take on the floral was a madly colorful motif based on the idea of exploding a peony, and merged with a leopard print. "I treat it like camouflage," he said. That could literally be true in this print-heavy season, but this was still a collection that deserves to stand out.
